Kerli - Tea Party

Absolutely had to share this video! Dave and I went to see his brother's performance of Alice in Wonderland at the high school. Halfway through the show immediately following the Mad Hatter scene, we get to the intermission. The Mad Hatter and March hare run forward and say that since Alice left, they need new company. This song begins to play and the cast runs up on both sides of the audience, the middle of the set opens up like a double sided doorway and the entire audience gets up and goes on stage through the doors to a "Tea Party" on the other side. There were lots of brightly colored cupcakes and tea =D! I thought it was the cutest concept. I had this song stuck in my head for the next few days and I finally hunted it down....and O_O! I absolutely LOVE the music video, concept, and styling. Very Japanese Lolita-esque!

Fireworks

I really truly love this song and the video! Another random fact of Serena-- It's really easy to make me cry. I'm one of those girls that watches sappy movies and is balling her eyes out by the end. This video really reminds me again why my career is so important to me. To bring joy to every one by capturing memories and saving them forever in a photograph. To accept, to love, and to cherish all that is what we are, to bring out and let the beauty shine in our world. It's such a beautiful concept.

...and Since it's Veteran's Day.. a friend of mine on FB reminded me of two beautiful videos that make me use a box of tissues every time I see them. Beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkGzqpGx1KU
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSTKoKjJ5XA

New Modeling pics and Gwen Stefani

I received another new photo today from back when I modeled for M.A.R.s School! I immediately posted it on facebook and one of my friends commented, "gwen stefani was caught in 'spiderwebs' too; eh eh? lol back when she was in no doubt at least.." It made me remember some fun times growing up..... (thanks Steve)

 

Model/MUA: Me

Photography: Donna Andrews

 

One year when I was a teenager, I briefly worked at Hot Topic for a seasonal job. They never really let me do anything except for stand up front and greet people as they walked in. I guess my massive collection of Corsets and lolita outfits intrigued people to enter the store.

I remember one day this kid started following me around. I finally got tired of it and confronted him -- he stared at me and stuttered as he simply said, "You look like a Red-Headed Gwen Stefani." Now I personally don't really see the comparison, but throughout my modeling career, I have heard that quite a bit. Either way,  I'm a huge fan of No Doubt -- "I'm Just a Girl" is probably one of my favorite songs of all time -- I used to practice vocals to "Tragic Kingdom" back when I was singing. (Another random fact for today - I was Classically trained.) I probably couldn't hold a note very well now though!

First of all, I want to remind you guys of my absolute love of Alice in Wonderland. (I love Alice in Wonderland way too much.)



I sort of feel like this all the time. If you want something, sometimes you've just got to go out and take what you want. You can't wait around and expect everything to be handed to you! I've learned you have to be yourself, work hard, and put your heart and soul into everything you do -- only then will you stand strong where you want to be.

While i'm at it, here is "I'm Just a Girl." I sang this song at a coffee house when I was in High School =D Check out the imagery difference between the video above and the two videos below.... big difference! -- The lighting, Lens choices, styling,... everything!  While I adore No Doubt's music, Gwen's new music videos are very story telling in my opinion!



And of course Spider Webs, which started this whole post to begin with! =X

Christina Aguilera

Ok, so I know coming from a girl who has a background in Metal, Rock, and Underground Industrial music, this may be odd, but I have always loved Christina (among many other pop singers) -- she won me over with Genie in a bottle (in which I still enjoy belly dancing to, to this day!)  She recently (sorta) did a music video I fell in love with instantly. It's really fun to see the mainstream industry bringing in influences from the Alternative industry. This is something I've been doing in my work for years. I've slowly been seeing it integrated more and more over the years. It really shows in this video! For some reason, I can't embed the video, but you can watch it on her website.  I would probably suggest not watching it at your place of work -- it's a little sexy and fetish oriented! It's pretty sad when I can recognize latex designers that made some of her wardrobe =X  http://www.christinaaguilera.com/us/videos/not-myself-tonight


 Anyway, so even more respect -- She has a movie apparently coming out soon and I can't wait to see it in the theater!!! It's about burlesque dancers! With my acting experience, i've always had a secret passion for the thrill of the stage and the art of the performance, so I am excited to see how well this movie takes off!

Inspiration inside me

I wanted to make a post about some of the things that inspire me. This whole social networking thing sort of appeared as I grew up -- in a lot of ways I feel like I was much more open about my life in younger years. Becoming a model and a photographer that people look up to made me afraid of showing parts of who I really am -- afraid people won't understand the artistic "me" inside. I made my personal pages private  and made posts only about those things related to my work. It's hard for me to show the vulnerable side of my core essence. Even now I feel shaken as my fingers touch my keyboard.

I recently found a blog that really inspired me to want to show more about who I am and the people that I love and inspire my soul. I have seen Vicky and Jed of VGallery at Imaging USA, http://www.thevlog.net  but I never really went to their website or saw a lot of their work. I forget how I happened to stumble across their site in my surfing, but I am glad I did! The first thing that really stuck out to me was a video about social networking they posted, it is really amazing. If you have a business -- any kind of business, it is really motivational. The second thing was how real they were.

(double Click on the videos to bring up youtube if you can't view the right side.)

While mentioning people from Imaging USA that inspire the emotional part of my heart, I have to mention Jeff and Julia Woods. I saw them a couple years back now, I think, at Imaging USA. Their program rocked, but what inspired me the most was some of the things that Julia mentioned about making time for the people in your life that you love. It touched me.

During college, I pushed. I have this never ending drive to want to better myself as a person and an artist. The first thing that comes to my mind when I go into a photo shoot is, "Can I bring out and make this person shine as beautiful as they really are. Will I be able to bring out their soul?" As a solo business owner, there is always a never ending "To do" list. Often I wonder if it's because I am a young, female entrepreneur and feel I have to prove myself to the world, but after talking to other business owners I realized it's a feeling they all have. I always feel no matter how much I get done in a day, there is more that I should be doing -- that getting work done is more important than going out to dinner with your family -- or simply watching a movie and enjoying hot chocolate with your significant other.

 It's hard to make time for yourself. Those little things in your life mean more than you can ever know. To those photographers following my blog -- or anyone, really, Make sure you take time to let the people in your life know how much you love them. Don't just throw words at them before you go to bed at night. Really make sure you stand up and give them a big hug and let them know how much of a difference they have made in your life.

I photographed a wedding this weekend; It was a Fairy Tale, literally and figuratively. Sometimes it takes all I have to remind myself to keep my camera in hand and snap photos instead of joining in and clapping for the happy couple as they walk back down that aisle. At this wedding, I felt the tears swelling up in my eyes as the couple kissed. Without going into too much detail, this couple had so much against them and they pulled through everything to have the most beautiful happily ever after. 

Music is a big inspiration to me. In the past couple years a lot of the music videos haven't been very inspiring to me -- live videos of bands playing - violence. Things that never hit my core. I feel the same way about movies. Every day we see things - terrible things on the news.  I go to a movie to be entertained and laugh- feel that warm fuzzy feeling, or have a deep connection that really makes me think by the end. On the bright side, if you haven't seen Avatar, you have to go see it.  I feel those that gave it bad review just don't understand the spiritual aspect behind it. I grew up in a very spiritual, open minded home -- to me this movie is a masterpiece.

 Recently i've seen some amazing music videos that I haven't really seen since Madonna-- Videos that are visually enticing such as Lady Gaga's or Christina Aguilera. (Mind you I don't always agree with all of their fame tactics.) It is amazing to see Alternative fashions such as corsetry and latex in mainstream music. When I was a teenager, I was enticed by the creativity and sensual energy behind such wardrobe - and although I was ridiculed and harassed as being "weird" it inspired the style of work I do today. I look back on those days today and smile. 

Many don't know this about me, but I took Four years of acting in an Academy during High school. I actually had two diploma's coming out of High School. I took vocal classes, learned stage and wardrobe design -- makeup -- everything inspired my work. When I see some of the artistic music videos recently, they are so beautiful. I feel my heart almost quiver when I see such amazing art. My lips press together and I cease to breath for a moment before my lungs start to burn and a gasp for air. 

I had stopped watching music videos because of how uninspiring a lot of them have been. My brother showed me this a little while back and ever since i've been hungrily looking for more.

Sorry about how long and for posting so many videos into one blog, but I have all these words jumbled up that are screaming through my fingertips. I'm a big fan of Flyleaf's music. I love female singers to begin with, but I just love the way she moves in videos. 

And last but definitely not least, how can I end a post about inspiration without at least mentioning Alice in Wonderland. I read that book over and over growing up. I've quoted it during important times in my life. It's so out of this world - I could make a whole post on it. I will leave that for a later time though =)